A dispute over the hanging of LGBTQ+ flags from Spanish public buildings has brought the social agendas of conservatives and the far right under scrutiny, shortly before a general election that could see them form a new government together.
In recent years, local government buildings in many parts of the country have hung the rainbow flag to coincide with annual LGBTQ+ Pride celebrations.
This year, however, several town halls have not done so on the insistence of the far-right Vox party, which has been incorporated into many regional and municipal governments following local elections in May.
In the major northern cities of Valladolid and Burgos the flag was not hung from public buildings last week as normal due to pressure from Vox, which is the junior partner in a coalition with the conservative Popular Party (PP) in both cities.
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The far-right party claimed that its stance was based on legality.
“The LGBTQ+ flag cannot be hung from public buildings and institutions because this ... violates the ideological neutrality of all public institutions,” said Vox’s Irene Carvajal, who recently took up a post in Valladolid city hall.
However, critics say the party is simply implementing its homophobic ideology.
“They are not going to shut us up and stop us from making this gesture,” said Luis Tudanca, leader of the Socialist Party in the Castilla y León region, of which Valladolid is the capital.
Mr Tudanca was one of several left-wing politicians who defied the prohibition and hung the flag from their parliamentary offices.
“For every flag they take down we will put up another and we will defend the rights they want to take away, we will not allow the far right to impose its ideas,” he added.
In the western city of Mérida, Vox representative Francisco Piñol drew controversy by describing the LGBTQ+ banner as “the paedophile flag”.
Such comments have led to Vox leader Santiago Abascal being asked about his own views on the flag and Pride festivities, which his party has previously criticised and said should be moved away from city centres.
“There are a lot of homosexuals who don’t celebrate that ... who don’t reduce their personality or their existence merely to that sexual tendency,” he said.
However, the furore has also put the conservative PP under pressure, as it appeared to allow its junior partner to take the lead on this issue in several towns and cities.
In a statement, the PP insisted that it continues to support “the entire LGBTQ+ collective, always”, although its leader, Alberto Núñez Feijóo, said that he likes “rights more than flags”.
Polls suggest that Mr Núñez Feijóo is on course to win the July 23rd general election, but that the local coalitions the PP has been forming with Vox in recent weeks will need to be repeated on a national level for his party to form a government.
The left-wing government of Pedro Sánchez has warned that such a scenario would lead to Vox dictating the Spanish government’s policies in many areas, stripping away rights for women and migrants as well as the LGBTQ+ community.
On Friday, the PP and Vox agreed on the formation of a new coalition government in Extremadura. That was despite the fact that the PP leader in the region, María Guardiola, had appeared to rule out any agreement with Vox after saying she would not govern with “those who deny the existence of sexist violence or dehumanise immigrants”.
